Refrigerator.



PATENTED DEG. 20, 1904.

G. GBRAGI. RBPRIGBRATOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAB..3,190'

' No MODEL.-

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PATENTED DEC. 2O1 1904.

G. GERACI. REFRIGERATOR. v APPLIGATION FILED MAR.3,19o4.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

N0 MODEL. l

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UNITED STATES Patented December 20, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

GIROLAMO GERACI, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AS-

SIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JACOB I. SHAPPIRO, OF INASHINGTON,

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

REFRIGERATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 777,895, dated December 20, 1904.

Application filed March 3, 1904. Serial No. 196,354.

To all whom, it may concern:

Beitknown that I, GIROLAMO GERACI, acitizen of the United States, residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerators or Ice-Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to refrigerators or ice-boxes. f

One object of the invention is to provide a construction and arrangement wherein there is no communication between the ice-chamber and receptacles or compartments containing the food or provisions, whereby the ice is not contaminated by the odors arising from the food or provisions, permitting the liquefied or melted ice to be used for drinking' or cooking purposes. v

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a refrigerator or ice-box of an arrangement wherein the ice-chamber will be disposed with such relation to the food or provision compartments as to have the proper degree of refrigerating eHect upon the food or provisions contained within the different compartments.

Another object of the invention is to so arrange the ice-chamber with relation to the food or provision compartments and receptacles that entrance may be had tothe former without admitting the atmosphere to the latter.

Another object of the invention is to arrange the food or provision compartments and ice-chamber in such relation that access may be had to one compartment without opening adjacent or distinct compartments or that the ice-chamber may be opened independently of any of the remaining chambers or compartments.

Another object of the invention is to arrange the ice-chamber substantially centrally of the refrigerator, the former being arranged preferably, in an inclined position and common to a number of separate and distinct food or provision compartments or receptac es.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a refrigerator or ice-box of such character and arrangement as to afford an inspection of certain food or provision compartments without exposing the food or provisions to outside atmosphere, or. in other words, providing for the display of certain foods or provisions.

A still further object of the invention resides in the employment of an economical system of refrigeration; to prevent accumulation of moisture in and adjacent to the icechamber, economizing the consumption of ice; to promote a proper eifect upon the food or provisions incident to refrigeration, and' improve generally the construction of refrigerators and similar cooling chambers or apparatus.

With these and other objects in view the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings. and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes in the form, proportion, size, and minor details may be made Within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

In tliedrawings, Figure l is a perspective view of one construction and arrangement of refrigerator or ice-box, partly in section, with certain of the compartments open. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view of Fig. l, and Fig..3 is a horizontal sectional view on the line rt o of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a modified form of construction and arrangement embodying my invention.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, and more particularly to Figs. l and 2, the reference character l designates the outer wall or casing of the refrigerator or ice-box of any suitable material, supported upon suitable legs 2, with its lower portion preferably rectangular in form and its upper front portion preferably inclined rearwardly, as shown.

Arranged in the upper front part of the wall or casing l, with its rear wall 8 arranged in accordance with the inclination of the inand being inclined upwardly to insure against.

displacement of the foods or provisions lodged thereupon. Suitable glass or other doors 6 and 7 have their frames hinged in any suitable manner upon the sides of the wall or casing and when closed are designed to have their beveled front edges meet the correspondingly-beveled edges of the meeting strip 8, with their top and bottom edges also beveled to tightly lit within the casing or wall 1,

as well understood. Itis obvious that instead of beveling the edges of the door-frames to meet correspondingly or otherwise formed meeting faces of the wall or casing the doorframes may be grooved, rabbeted, or otherwise formed. This seems too obvious for illustration, as is also the fact that the meeting of the faces of the door-frames and other receptacles with the casing or wall of the refrigerator or ice-box may be provided with felt orvother suitable material to accomplish the desired purpose of rendering the compartments air-tight. It will be understood, too, that one of the compartments formed by the vertical strip 8 of the cooling and display chamber may be entered by opening one of the doors without necessarily exposing the contents of the other compartment closed by the other door. A

Arranged approximately centrally of the wall or casing 1 is an ice-chamber 9, of wood, metal, or any other suitable material, which is disposed in an inclined plane, the rear wall 10 thereof extending from the top of the casing downwardly and parallel with the rear wall of the aforesaid provision-chamber, a top piece or cover 11 being hingedly connected in any suitable manner to the rear wall of the casing, with the edge thereof opposite to the hinged edge reduced, as shown, to snugly rest upon the top part 12 of the display and cooling or provision chamber hereinbefore mentioned. rThis ice-chamber, like the display and cooling chamber, extends entirely across and within the casing 1, the two chambers being about the same length and arranged side by side in an inclined position, there being a partition 13 leading from the lower rear corner of the ice-chamber downwardly in a vertical plane and cooperating with the horizon tal partition 13u to form the rear enlarged provision or food compartment 14 at the rear of the refrigerator and also form the smaller compartment 1 5 in the front thereof. The food-compartment 14 being the largestl compartment in the refrigerator or ice-box, itis desired to accommodate therein one or more supporting-poles 16, having hooks or other means 17 for the suspensions of fowls, meats, e., while the compartment 15 is more particularly designed for the reception of dish, pan, or other receptacles containing food, there being oppositelyarranged doors 18 and 19 hinged in any suitable manner to corresponding sides of the wall or casing 1 and having their edges beveled or otherwise formed to have a tight lit with the casing'and the meeting strip 20, as clearly shown in the drawings. Access is had at either side of the compartment 14, the doors 21 acting' as proper closures. It will be observed that the rear wall of the cooling or display chamber also forms the front and top wall of the ice-chamber. In other words, the rear wall of the ice-chamber being ar' ranged upon an incline is met at its top by the rear wall of the casing, as clearly shown in the drawings, the result being that articles may be suspended from the rear of the icechamber within the provision-compartment 14 in such manner as to be out of Contact with any of the walls of the structure.

Disposed beneath the compartment 15 is another food or provision compartment having suitable drawers or other receptacles 22 and 23 slidably mounted therein, the front edges of the drawers or other receptacles being formed to insure a tight fit with the refrigerator wall or casing. All of the doors and drawers and other receptacles hereinbefore mentioned are provided with suitable knobs or handles for their manipulation.

The compartments, chambers, fronts of drawers or other receptacles, doors, with the exception ofthe transparent doors 6 and 7, are provided with a suitable lining of metal` porcelain, or the like, the purpose of course being to prevent outside atmosphere gaining access to the refrigerator compartments or chambers and insuring the retention of the cold air derived from the ice-chamber.

It will now be understood that ice is delivered into the ice-chamber 9 at the top of the refrigerator, and owing to the inclination thereof, whether there be a large or small quantity of ice, the ice at all times contacts with the rear wall thereof to afford proper refrigerating effect upon the food or provisions in the larger compartment 14 in juxtaposition therewith. Of course the ice always contacts with the front wall of the ice-chamber to afford proper refrigerating results upon the display and cooling chamber. However, the compartmenty 14 being of greater area than the display or cooling compartment the present construction and arrangement has been designed to care for the food and provision of the compartment of greater area, the ice-chamber being inclined and arranged with respect to the-display and cooling chamber and the larger food or provision compartments for this purpose. The ice-cham lOO IIO

ber extends from one side to the other of the wall or casing l, the front and rear walls of the former being so positioned with relation to each other as to afford a comparatively narrow chamber, thereby occupying very little space within the refrigerator and yet having an extended refrigerative capacity. The door 11 closes the open upper end of the ice-chamber, and the liquefied or melted ice is drawn off from the ice-chamber through the spigot 24, arranged to pierce the refrigerator wall or casing and have communication with the ice-chamber at the extreme bottom thereof. The ice is thoroughly washed before being placed in the ice-chamber, so that the water derived from the liquefied or melted ice may be used for drinking or cooking purposes, it being obvious that a screen or other filtering material (not shown) may be used with relation to the spigot to provide for the filtration of the drinking or cooking liquid.

In Fig. 4 there is shown a modified form or arrangement of cabinet, refrigerator, or icebox. The only diiference between this modified arrangement and the arrangement as described resides in the addition of compartments and receptacles taking the place of the legs supporting the first-mentioned structure. Of course this second-mentioned arrangement affords greater. accommodations and can be used, perhaps, for certain requirements to better advantage in stores, restaurants, hotels, &c. In fact, it is to be understood that the compartment 14 may extend to the floor or base of the refrigerator, if desired, the additional lower receptacles or compartments in such event terminating at the same point as the compartment l5 and drawers 22 and 23, respectively, permitting larger doors than the doors 2l, wherebya person might enter the cabinet, refrigerator, or ice-box, as well understood.

I claim-- l. In arefrigerator or ice-box, acasing having its upper 'front portion inclined rearwardly; an ice-chamber arranged upon an incline within the casing; a combined display and cooling chamber arranged upon an incline within the casing in front of the ice-chamber, the rear wall of the display and cooling chamber forming the front wallof the ice-chamber, said display and cooling chamber having a vertical partition therein and transverse partitions extending from adjacent sides of the aforesaid partition to corresponding inner faces of the side walls of the casing, forming adjacent series of compartments, said transverse partitions being inclined upwardly to prevent accidental dislodgment of articles placed thereupon; transparent doors associated with the front of the casing and arranged whereby one of said series of compartments may be opened and closed independently of the other series of compartments; a-provision-compartment arranged in the rear of the ice-chamber, the rear wall of the latter forming the front and top walls of the said provision-compartment; and a door associated with the provision-compartment.

2. In a refrigerator or ice-box, a casing; an ice-chamber arranged upon an incline within the casing; a display and cooling chamber arranged upon an incline within the casing and in frontl of the ice-chamber, said display and cooling chamber being divided into separate and distinct compartments arranged in vertical series; transparent doors hingedly associated with the casing, each door forming the front wall of each of said series of compartments whereby one series may be opened and closed independently of the other series, the front wall of the ice-chamber forming the rear wall of the display and cooling chamber and its compartments; a provision-compartment arranged within the casing in the rear of the ice-chamber, the rear wall of the latter forming the front and top wall of the provision-chamber and provided with means whereby articles may be suspended therefrom out of contact therewith; provision-compartm ents arranged beneath the display and cooling and the ice chambers; and a door associated with the first-mentioned provision-chamber.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses, this 10th day of February, 1904.

GIROLAMO GERACI. Witnesses:

JOHN H. SIGGERS, GEO. C. SHOEMAKER. 

